By Frank Rajkowski--St. Cloud Times
October 8, 2003
With new point guard Sam Cassell dishing him the ball, Kevin Garnett scored 25 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to lead the Black team past the White 72-53 at Warner Palaestra's Sexton Arena.
Cassell finished with 14 points and 11 assists.
"I'm on the same page with Kevin and I think he's happy with me at point guard," said Cassell, who was acquired in a trade with Milwaukee. "There's a lot of potential there. The sky is the limit."
The Cassell trade was one of several off-season moves made to revamp the roster. Trading for veteran guard Latrell Sprewell and signing free-agent center Michael Olowokandi were others.
Neither Sprewell nor Olowaokandi played in Tuesday's scrimmage. Sprewell has a sore Achilles tendon and Olowokandi is recovering from an injured knee. Starting forward Wally Szczerbiak also sat out Tuesday's scrimmage with a nagging heel injury and point guard Troy Hudson was sidelined by illness.
Sprewell, Szczerbiak and Olowokandi all likely will sit out Thursday's preseason opener against the Milwaukee Bucks in Columbus, Ohio.
"The beat goes on," Cassell said. "If they're not going to be there, we have to go on without them until they get back. We need them. There's no doubt about that. But you've got to do with what you have."
What the black team had was Garnett and Cassell, playing on the same squad because Timberwolves head coach Flip Saunders wanted the pair to get their timing down.
"I thought K.G. and Sam played extremely well," Saunders said. "They're veteran players and they know how to play the game."
Also playing on the black team was late-night talk show host Craig Kilborn. The Minnesota native and host of the "Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn" on CBS worked out with the team Monday and Tuesday at Saunders' invitation.
Kilborn, who played basketball at Hastings High School and Montana State before embarking on a broadcast career, logged six minutes of playing time, going 0-for-2 from the field, including missing a wide-open 3-point attempt near the end of the first half.
Kilborn was 1-for-2 at the free throw line after a mysterious technical foul was called against the white team to begin the fourth quarter. Kilborn brought along a camera crew to tape segments for his show. He said Tuesday he was unsure when the footage would air.
"Craig can play," Cassell said of the 41-year-old Kilborn. "He knows the game. He's not in the best shape right now, but he knows the game."
Tuesday's scrimmage marked the completion of the Timberwolves' stay at St. John's. Saunders presented Johnnies basketball coach Jim Smith with a personalized Timberwolves jersey in the second half in recognition of the help he and his players provided to the team.
"This was a good night," Saunders said. "The atmosphere was great. We got a great reception. That's one of the reasons we really like coming up here."
BLACK (72)
Reggie Slater 2-2 1-2 5 (3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals), Kirk Penney 4-8 4-4 13 (2 rebounds), Sam Cassell 6-8 2-2 14 (11 assists, 2 steals), Kevin Garnett 11-19 3-4 25 (11 rebounds, 4 assists), Quincy Lewis 2-2 2-2 6, Ervin Johnson 0-1 0-0 0 (2 rebounds), Craig Kilborn 0-2 1-2 1 (1 rebound), Jason Collier 4-4 0-0 8 (3 rebounds). Totals: FG 29-48, FT 13-16, REB 24, PF 14.
WHITE (53)
Keith McLeod 6-12 0-0 12 (4 rebounds, 3 assists), Gary Trent 3-10 0-0 6 (6 rebounds, 2 assists), Quincy Lewis 2-6 0-0 4 (2 rebounds, 2 steals), Fred Hoiberg 1-5 0-0 3, Mark Madsen 4-9 2-3 10 (4 rebounds), Ndudi Ebi 4-9 4-4 12 (6 rebounds, 3 steals), Brandon Kurtz 2-5 2-4 6 (4 rebounds). Totals: FG 22-56, FT 8-11, REB 31, PF 15.
Black 18 19 16 19 < 72
White 13 14 16 10 < 53
3-point goals: B< 1-6 (Penney 1-2, Cassell 0-1, Garnett 0-2, Kilborn 0-1); W< 1-5(McLeod 0-3, Hoiberg 1-2); Turnovers: B< 7; W< 11; Technicals B< none; W< 1.
